Boot Camp Back To Mac Oscleverplaza



Forum discussion: I decided to Boot Camp my 2013 Mac Pro (aka trashcan) today. Everything went well except that the MacOS partition, which is APFS is missing (not viewable in the Boot Camp Windows. Boot Camp is software developed by Apple, in cooperation with Microsoft, designed to run Windows on Mac hardware. By using Boot Camp, you don't have to choose between Apple macOS or Windows. Instead, you can install both and simply switch between them by rebooting and selecting the other OS.

Home > Articles > Home & Office Computing > Mac OS X

Boot Camp Back To Mac

  1. Choosing How to Run Windows on a Mac
Page 1 of 4Next >
Unlike the early years of incompatibility, it is easy to integrate Mac OS X Lion into a Windows network. On top of all that, the Mac’s capability to actually run Windows applications is just another reason to love Mac OS X’s versatility. This chapter shows how it's done.
This chapter is from the book

Boot Camp Return To Mac

Mac OS X Lion In Depth, 2nd Edition

Boot Camp Osx

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Over the past few years, the Macintosh has risen in popularity among both home and business users. Applications that, for a long time, have been PC-only (such as Outlook and AutoCAD) are finding their way back to the Mac. And, unlike the early years of incompatibility, it is easy to integrate Mac OS X Lion into a Windows network. On top of all that, the Mac’s capability to actually run Windows applications is just another reason to love Mac OS X’s versatility.

Choosing How to Run Windows on a Mac

Despite the Mac’s power and range of software, there are still quite a few reasons that you might need to run Windows:

  • No Mac version of the software you need—Windows has by far the largest collection of desktop applications. Some developers don’t create Mac versions of their software, especially in specialty markets. In that case, you need Windows to run one of those non-Mac programs.

  • The Mac equivalent just isn’t the same for you—If you use Windows at work, or if you used to run Windows at home, you might have a favorite Windows program that doesn’t have a Mac version. There might be Mac applications that do something similar, but you really like the version you were using on Windows. In that case, you need Windows in order to install and run that program.

  • Better gaming opportunities—If you like to play games, you probably already know that the Mac isn’t the top gaming platform. Windows is very game-friendly, and many games don’t have Mac versions. In that case, you need Windows for the optimum gaming experience.

  • Access to the full Microsoft Office suite—If you’re an Office user, you already know that the Mac version of Office doesn’t come with the popular Access database program or OneNote. If you really need to use those applications, you need Windows to run the latest version of Microsoft’s Office suite.

In all these examples, you probably only need to use Windows every now and then, or just for short periods each day. Buying a separate PC to run Windows will set you back hundreds of dollars (at least), which is more than likely wasteful for something that you won’t be using all that often. On the other hand, each of the methods for running Windows on your Mac that I talk about in this chapter is entirely free (although you might also need a copy of Windows, so be sure to add that into your budget). Either way, running Windows on your Mac is much more economical than using a separate PC, and you don’t have to clutter your desk with multiple monitors, keyboards, and mice.

Understanding Boot Camp

The option that is native to OS X Lion is running Windows via Boot Camp. When you use this option, you can choose to boot your Mac in the Mac OS or in Windows. When you boot in Windows, you have a fully functional Windows PC on your hands. (It will probably outperform many dedicated Windows machines, too.) This option is great because it enables you to run Windows and its applications on your Mac. However, this method has one significant flaw: You have to restart your computer each time you want to switch from Mac to Windows and then back again. If you run Windows applications only rarely, this might not be so bad, but if you regularly run a couple of Windows applications, you waste a lot of time restarting the computer.

Understanding Virtualization Software

The second option is to use virtualization software. This approach provides a virtual environment (also called a virtual machine or VM) in which you install and run Windows. Because the virtualization software is just another application running on the Mac, you can switch to it as easily as moving to any open Mac application. So, you can leave Windows running all the time and jump into it when you need it. This makes using Windows much more convenient than the Boot Camp option. The performance of Windows in the virtual environment isn’t noticeably slower than running it under Boot Camp or even on some Windows hardware. Additionally, popular virtualization software is available free on Lion, although you might want to purchase a commercial alternative if you require support.

In the remainder of this chapter, you get information about each of these methods so that you can choose the one that works the best for you.

Related Resources

  • Book $55.99
  • eBook (Watermarked) $55.99
  • Web Edition $55.99

Boot Camp Control Panel User Guide

After you use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows on your Intel-based Mac, you can set the default operating system to either macOS or Windows. The default operating system is the one you want to use when you turn on or restart your Mac.

Set the default operating system

  1. In Windows on your Mac, click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Boot Camp Control Panel.

  2. If a User Account Control dialog appears, click Yes.

  3. Select the startup disk that has the default operating system you want to use.

  4. If you want to start up using the default operating system now, click Restart. Otherwise, click OK.

Boot Camp Back To Mac Oscleverplaza

You can’t change your startup volume to an external drive while you’re using Windows.

To learn how to change the default operating system using macOS, see Get started with Boot Camp.

Boot camp osx

Restart in macOS

In Windows on your Mac, do one of the following:

  • Restart using Startup Manager: Restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Option key. When the Startup Manager window appears, release the Option key, select your macOS startup disk, then press Return.

    If you’re using a Mac notebook computer with an external keyboard, make sure you press and hold the Option key on the built-in keyboard.

  • Restart using Boot Camp Control Panel: Click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Restart in macOS.

    This also sets the default operating system to macOS.

For more information about restarting in macOS, see the Apple Support article Restart your Mac in macOS or Windows.

See alsoGet started with Boot Camp Control Panel on MacTroubleshoot Boot Camp Control Panel problems on MacApple Support article: How to select a different startup disk